Friday, December 3, 2010

Godard Day

Happy eightieth birthday, Jean-Luc Godard -- after Freud's yours is perhaps the most brilliant mind modernity has produced.



Love,
The Hilarious Posters

Saturday, November 20, 2010

All Things Can Tempt Me

I'm deep in the procrastination zone right now. I'm supposed to be working, but I can't!

I decided to start an additional blog, actually, to document an issue that I feel really strongly about. I hope to call attention to a lot of silent suffering with this one, and put a human face on an issue too many of us laugh off or talk about in hushed tones. The blog is called Ugly Ric.

I'll post some video of The Fire Tapes and Red Satellites soon, promise. I got four thirty-second clips, featuring snippets of two Fire Tapes songs and two Red Satellites songs.

Here's a picture I took of the Sat's set list while we were cleaning up. 


I also took this picture of people who were in front of the stage after the show was over.


And I took this picture of our set list when I got home.


By the way, we skipped Sibella (as usual). I swear: next time we're opening with it!

Just Got Back

That show was awesome! I have nothing but good things to say about The Fire Tapes and Red Satellites. I have both video and pictures which I'll post over the weekend. For now you'll have to be content with this, which is also completely awesome in every way.




Thursday, November 18, 2010

Show on Friday!!!!!

We're playing with Red Satellites and The Fire Tapes tomorrow, that being Friday the 19th of November, 2010. The show is at the Tea Bazaar and is $5.

Also I have revamped the blog, as people were saying it looked a little stale.

Red Satellites are celebrating the release of a new CD, which I hope everybody will buy.

For those of us who don't celebrate the weekend before Thanksgiving as if it were some kind of actual holiday, this show is going to be the hottest thing going down this week!

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

November Spawned a Monster of Rock

Fall is here in all its chilly glory! Now I can finally break out my special Kubla Khan inspired "fast thick pants" that were too warm to wear before.

It's election day today. I'll spare you my thoughts on that this time around. Go vote (unless you're a Republican).

Also, this:


which is going to be awesome. The flier pretty much says it all, including how I feel about Dave and Renee going on holiday without me (sniff).

There are rumors afoot about 1) the cover charge (which I'll post here as soon as I know it) and 2) another band being added to the bill. No word on order or anything yet, but I assume the Satellites will be playing last since no one in their right mind would want to follow them. If we end up going on after the Satellites, though, I think it would only be fair to expect Kris to take his shirt off.

[Edit: 1) The door will be the usual Tea Bazaar fiver, 2) It'll just be three bands, us, the Sats, and The Fire Tapes, whom I'm quite excited to see.]

Lots more action coming up as soon as all the posters are states-side. We're pretty close to finished recording, and there's still a chance (if slim) that we'll get the record out this year. It's going a lot faster this time, but there's three times as many songs. Then there's mixing, which I feel was the weakest aspect of the EP (totally my fault), so I really don't want to rush that. Once that's done, though, mastering and pressing should only take a week or so. We also plan to play a show in December, though nothing's set up yet.

Sam

Sunday, October 31, 2010

Spooky Greetings!

It's Halloween today. Dave and Renee are going as people who have gone on holiday to Wales, and it's the most convincing costume ever! Recording is on hold while they're away, which I'm sort of sad about, but it's probably for the best because I have a ton of work to do on both the reading and the grading fronts.

We have a show lined up for when they get back, though. Tea Bazaar, Friday, November 19th. This will be a release party for the new Red Satellites EP, and Red Satellites are also playing (obviously). The Fire Tapes have just been added to the bill. They're the new Charlottesville dream-pop band everybody is talking about right now. We're super excited to be playing with the Satellites again. Dancin'!

This is what I'm into lately. I can't stop watching it!



I really wish they'd use it as a dream sequence (or the opening credits?) on an episode of House.

Soupy twist!
Sam

Saturday, October 16, 2010

... and Demo Streaming!

I've also added a bunch of demos and stuff to soundcloud. Right now it's pretty heavily weighted towards Sam songs, because I didn't want to post too much of Dave's stuff without his permission. But there's a hand full of things on there that nobody had heard before, in addition to some old classics.

[Edit: I've added some more stuff, and I guess the player updates automatically, so the description below isn't really exhaustive anymore. Anyway, if you actually want to know more about any of the tracks than the notes on soundcloud tell you then just email us.

All you really need to know is that the songs on this playlist are all songs that the Posters play, but none of these versions have been -- or will be -- released in any "official" way. It's sort of a cyber-age B-Side bin.

Dave will also be uploading some more stuff soon. Let's hope for some oldskool Geoffrey Crayon shit! Most of Dave's demos are just acoustic guitar, drum machine, and "la la la" vocals, but let's hope he'll post some anyway. I know there's a good one of Not the Strut that was in heavy rotation at my house for a while!]

Demos and Alternate Versions by TheHilariousPosters

The set includes the original demo of Geniuses, an early version of the Justin version of Geniuses (which was on MySpace for most of 2009), a version of Fists from that month when I was the drummer, and some other goodies. There's even one song that we've never played live, and which won't be on the CD we're making! It's called For Whom The Belt Holes, and I include it only because it's been a particular favorite among my close friends for a while (take that for whatever it's worth).

There's the rough mix of Conestoga which was posted here a while ago, and then the other songs are demos of three of my songs that will be on the CD.

Rock on!

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

EP Streaming

Yo, Homies!

With all the energy currently going into the full-length we're recording right now, it's easy to forget about the EP we put out last winter.

Have no fear! I've just rigged up a thing so that you can listen to it on line pretty easily. I think we might take it down later, and, like, replace it with five songs from the new record, but for now the whole EP is here and free to stream wherever and whenever.

The Hilarious Posters (EP) by TheHilariousPosters

This thing will, I hope, end up on our new homepage too, as will a feed of this blog, so that, while I'll still be hilariously posting here, you'll be able to read everything from our central hub.

We'll also be posting rough mixes of a few new songs as they're finished. The Conestoga Fries rough mix is already available at Soundcloud (the place from whence the EP streams).

In other news, lots of bands in Charlottesville are breaking up, which is really sad. Everybody go see Drunk Tigers and The Caninos while you have the chance!

Monday, October 11, 2010

Columbus Day Weekend

I made this video today compiling stuff I've recorded with my phone over the weekend. Most of it is about 30 seconds each of Lost in the Trees and Elf Power from the Tea Bazaar show last Saturday. Then there's just some unrelated video of Dave and me recording stuff this afternoon. We worked on acoustic guitar for about six songs.




Also, we have a real website up now, and we have our very own domain name and everything! The site looks great! It's been mostly a Renee and Dave endeavor, though, so I'll leave it for them to make the official announcement. Look for it soon!

Rock on!

Friday, October 1, 2010

Side-project show Saturday the 2nd (tomorrow)

I've been working this week on getting cover art stuff together for the new cd, though there's still no real consensus about what will be on the cover. We may end up scrapping what I've done and having somebody else do something totally different (though I hope not because I think what I have so far is pretty rad!).

I sort of proposed the idea of a December 3rd release date to people today, but that might be too soon or might be wrong for some other reason. With the EP I remember we were trying to get it done for Christmas and the actual release was on Valentine's Day!

Anyway, tomorrow night, that being Saturday, October 2nd, there will be a show at Tea Bazaar featuring my side-project band, The Womans, and two other bands. I posted a flier about the show on this page a couple of weeks ago. One of the other bands is the side-project of the guy from The Spinto Band. The third band is called ROAR and I don't know if they're a side-project or not. Either way, the evening will be side-project heavy for sure.

I played the demos I recorded of the songs for The Womans for Dave the other day. He said it sounded like music by somebody with a lot of problems. I was sort of trying to make a soundtrack for, like, a '60s beach party held on Halloween. We're also doing some covers, because I've always wanted to be in a band that played a lot of covers, but usually if I'm only in one band I don't want to do that because it might seem like I'm just lazy and don't write many songs. But since this is my second band I'm just going to go for it in terms of covers (and in terms of creeping out girls).

We (The Womans) are also looking for a lead singer, so if you want to sing in a band give me a shout. I originally wanted a female vocalist, but since our aesthetic is sort of all about creeping girls out I think that's probably not going to happen, so guys are welcome.

The Tom Perriello campaign was just at my door, reminding me to go vote on election day, which I was going to do anyway. Wouldn't their time be better spend visiting the people who weren't already going to vote for Perriello? I hate campaigns so much.

See what you get when you mess with The Orphans!
Sam

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

it's a small world After All!


Oh man! Can you feel it?! Can you feel the excitement in the air? The energy? That's the energy generated by at least a dozen people who can't wait to get a sneak peek at the upcoming Posters full length. Well,at long last, here it is...the first track to spring from the basement!

Conestoga Fryz (Rough Mix)

For those that don't know this song is my ode to the gone but not forgotten Disneyland attraction of the same name. Check it: Conestoga Fries. And yes, it is extremely fun eating overpriced McDonald's French fries out of a covered wagon. Oh, the memories!

Anyway, enjoy! And look for more sneak peeks in the weeks to come! See you at the Elf Power/Lost In The Trees/Hilarious Posters show on October 9th at Tea Bazaar! We won't be playing this song!

Love, Dave

Friday, September 24, 2010

09-23-2010 at the Taphouse

Here are some pictures I took the other night. For some reason there's a lot of blank space above them in this post. It's because of the weird Blogger formatting, I guess, which seems like it's going to let you edit html but then has all sorts of weird display stuff that it adds when you actually publish the post.


















Demon Beat
Elephant Child

Saturday, September 18, 2010

Show on Thursday!

Alright! We're playing at the 12th Street Taphouse on Thursday and we're totally excited!


It's going to be a good time.

Edit:

Oh, I forgot! We're going to be playing three songs we've never played before, so in that respect it'll be a departure from the norm, both because the songs will be unfamiliar and because we normally don't play more than one untried song per show. There are two songs of mine that are new, one is a pop song that's kind of Comet Gain meets Fraggle Rock. The other is more of an abstract arty piece which Renee has compared to the first Feelies record.

Dave has a new song that has a kind of Kinks-meet-Johnny-Cash vibe. Like "Victoria" but with a more American, travelin' music angle. I think he was going for a Game Theory kind of thing, but whatever. Scott Miller is a really hard guy to rip off (I should know!) so it's not a surprise that it turned into something else, and it's no loss because the song is great!



Oh the shows I would get to go to if I only had a time machine!

Sam

Thursday, September 2, 2010

Upcoming Whatever

I'm listening to last.fm right now and some weird version of "Sunlight Bathed in Golden Glow" by Felt is on. It's not the version on Strange Idol Patterns. It's got a cool bass intro that kind of sounds like Just Like Heaven. But my point is: Felt rules!

Folks, the Posters have been busy and we're going to stay that way for a while to come.

Lots of recording has been going on, though lots of re-recording has also been going on, so I'm not sure how much actual progress we're making. I think the record is going to have 16 songs and be about 35 minutes long. We had an almost-finished version of "Not the Strut" (which we sort of think of as this record's single), but we decided it was a little slow and so we're starting from scratch with a new version at the right tempo. I'm still trying to convince Dave to put vocals on the slow one and post it here as "Not the Strut UK Surf." There is also a genuinely weird version of "Ferris Beuller" that we'll probably have to scrap, though at some point I'll definitely be posting that somewhere for people to hear because it's kind of awesome. It sounds like a dub remix of "For the Benefit of Mr. Kite."

In the meantime, we have shows coming up, and we're working on getting our website up and running, and we're going to make t-shirts. The current plan is to have four t-shirt designs, one by each of us.

Our next show will be Saturday, September 25th, Thursday, September 23rd, and it'll happen at the 12th Street Taphouse, which until recently only hosted stand up comedy on its stage (for reasons unknown, Charlottesville has a lot of stand up comedy), but has recently broadened its offerings to include stand up tragedy. Naturally, we were one of the first troupes to whom they offered a spot. We'll be playing with fellow stand up tragedians The Capstan Shafts somebody else. The Taphouse is where Northern Exposure used to be.


Also, my exciting new band will be playing its first show on October 2nd at The Tea Bazaar. We're called The Womans and we've got a bunch of songs that are even shorter and even weirder than my songs in the Posters. We're also playing a bunch of covers. We've only practiced once, and we're still looking for a singer, so that show will probably be a complete train wreck of the kind that you don't want to miss. That band has two Caninos in it.

Sam

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Work Hard! Play Hard!

I think I mentioned last time I posted that my righteous new phone can record video. Here are the first spoils of this new power. Two little movies of the Posters working on our new record.

In this first one, Dave and I are working on guide vocals for Tommy2K, bass for Sibella, and then acoustic guitar for Penmanship Brigade. I seem to remember that there was some kind of phasing problem with the acoustic guitar, and it may have to be re-recorded. I didn't actually set the mics up for the guitar, and whoever did (coughDave) may have forgotten to make sure they were more or less equal distances from the sound source.



A week later, we had a drum day and got like four songs done, two of which (Tommy2K and Gap Year) I got some video of. The other two songs were songs of mine, and so I had actually to be helping with the production instead of just standing there with a camera being in the way. We just got a new preamp and an additional SM57, so we were all psyched that day about being able to put a mic over the toms. In all the excitement I forgot to flip the phase on the bottom mic on the snare, and I've been kicking myself over it for the past three days! It was probably karma for secretly blaming the acoustic guitar phase problems on Dave the week before.





That's how we roll, though. When it's time to cut loose, we go mental! But when it's time to roll up our sleeves and get to work, we're all like "Get 'er done, hombre!"

Sam

(I had to sign in through the Posters' blogger account because the videos are still rendering.)

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Diaspora

So I am in Portland, Maine, hanging with an ill and much loved family member. I don't know if anyone reads this blog anymore. Its upkeep has fallen mostly to me this year, and this summer I haven't been much in the mood for blogging.

The Posters played as a three piece the other night. I wasn't there to take pictures (though I did just get a sweet new phone last week and it takes video) but anybody who has them is encouraged to add them to the mix somehow. I did see one picture that showed the Posters taking advantage of my absence to use an amp from off the children's menu. Please! That amp's not even rated R, dude!

Love from Maine to anybody who reads this. Life is too short and too sad not to rock out.
ST

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

WTJU

Anybody who reads this blog I'm sure already knows about this (partly because most of the people who read the blog are in the Hilarious Posters) but I thought I'd give a shout anyway to WTJU in Crisis, run by Tyler of Posters faves Mss. Lots of changes are being proposed at TJU, and while the changers have been justly accused of mismanaging the transition, and the changees have been justly accused of some alarmist rhetoric, I think we can all agree that more (and more inclusive) discussion needs to happen at the station before any plan in finalized.

[Edit: Tyler has also started a forum.]


I did a weekly show on WTJU from 1998 until 2005, though I've kind of lost track of what's been going on there over the past five years, partly because I don't listen to the radio. (I'm too self absorbed.) From 2002 until 2005 I was in a band in which all four members were TJU djs, one of whom was rock director for part of that time. So while I'm one of the people who doesn't listen to the station, and therefore am I guess part of the reason the proposed changes appear necessary to some, TJU has been a major part of my time in Charlottesville, and a major part of my musical education. I can only assume that if it's true for me it must be true for many other people, and messing around with something that means so much to so many -- or even to a small crew of particularly dedicated folks -- is not something to be done quickly or lightly.

I hosted the last rock show at Peabody, I'm pretty sure. I was subbing for Paul Wilkinson, if I remember right. Chuck was standing behind me the whole time waiting for the dudes to call and nervously pacing. He said I might have to shut down quickly -- with only a minute's notice -- and that there were already people over at Lambeth waiting to power up the thing. He said the transition would be basically seamless, which blew my mind. But the call didn't come until 6 or so, about two ours after my show was over, and I think jazz was on or something.

Sunday, June 13, 2010

Recording

I haven't blagued in a while, but we've been busy recording. I took some arty photos of us making our record.

Here you can see Kris rocking the drums hard. It's all blurry because that's how fast he plays now. It can't be captured by a camera. That image is actually from last Wednesday. I think he was recording Not the Strut (or possibly the all-new version of That Thing You Don't).


Here's one of Dave playing guitar on Not the Strut. It's from today.


Renee was reading on the stairs while that was going down.

We're getting stuff done a lot faster than when we recorded our EP, but we also have a lot more songs to get through this time. About three times as many!

I'm hoping we'll have a demo of Not the Strut -- finished electric guitar, drums, and keyboard takes with scratch takes for bass, acoustic guitar, and vocals -- to post here this week. It will also be on all the various pages we maintain (assuming it actually gets done).

We also worked today on some demos for songs of mine that I haven't played with the band yet. One is an old song I used to play with Dave and Justin, and the other one is a new song that I haven't played with anybody yet.

Sunday, June 6, 2010

Happy Birthday!

It's the one-year anniversary of our blog!

Go blog!

Saturday, May 29, 2010

Memorial Day Rockin' Eve-Eve-Eve

Yesterday was the Friday that led off Memorial Day weekend here in Charlottesville (and I guess throughout the rest of the country as well). We played the Tea Bazaar with Paper Fleet and Borrowed Beams of Light and a good time was had by all. All three bands were different from one another, but similar enough that people who liked one probably liked all three. I know I did!

The Posters played first, and we were a lot sloppier than usual, but it was fun and I think the general outline of each song still pretty much translated to people. I broke a bass string, which I've never done before, even just in practice!

Next up was Paper Fleet. Their singer / guitar player guy looked much like Jordan Catalano.


They should consider changing their band's name to Frozen Embryos. Or, you know, Residue. Also, they should get Rayanne to sing "I Wanna Be Sedated" with them. (Actually, no, they shouldn't.)


I'm sorry these pictures are so bad. I forgot my camera (which takes pretty terrible pictures anyway) and I was stuck with my phone. Renee took a lot of pictures with her new camera (which she claims is "almost as good as Josh's") and she'll probably post them on fbook.

The Beams were on next. Here they are tuning up.


I was pretty impressed with how many people in town know all the words to their songs. Admittedly about half their lyrics are just "ahh" or "ohh," but still, people knew all the other words too.

As you can see in the picture below, the whole band is saying "ahhhh." I think this was the beginning of "Thousand Year Powernap," the song with the bass line so infectious that Dave cannot refrain from playing it in practice whenever we're not practicing one of our actual songs.


Local photographer and video rental impresario Andy is taking a picture of the Beams here.


I went to the back of the room to get a shot of how huge the crowd was. I'm not sure if as many people were there for our set, but even if it was half of what you see here it was a pretty big crowd for us, and it was really fun to share the stage with the Beams. Adam is a pop songsmith of the highest order!


Anyway, that was a badass show. Other than breaking a string it was a totally positive experience. I still have "Kids Are Great" stuck in my head! At the moment we don't have anything lined up until mid July, so it's going to be nose-to-the-grind-stone recording for a while.

Thursday, May 27, 2010

Tomorrow Is Gonna Be Psycho!

I finally got Photoshop at work again!


It's a few days late in coming, but I wanted to tell everybody that Renee had a cool (short) writeup in the C'ville this week. In the print version, on stands until the next issue comes out Tuesday, there is also a photo of her. Renee is indeed every boy's dream girl, which means that Dave is lucky for more reasons than simply having a cool job and being in a band with moi.

Also, don't forget that we're rocking the Tea House with our compatriots in the Charlottesville quirky pop scene Borrowed Beams of Light, and cool garage rock / slacker pop outfit Paper Fleet, from Brooklyn. I think they might know this guy I know named Chuck, who is good friends with my brother from art school and is (or was?) in The Bright Lights.

We're pulling out all the stops this time around. Dave is basically playing nothing but A-sides. I can't remember what songs of mine we're playing. I'm pretty sure they're good ones, though.

Hitch would like to remind you to be on time for the show, which will start at 9pm sharp, because we're going on first and, like Rachel on Glee (and Tinkerbell), we need applause to live.

Sunday, May 23, 2010

Show This Friday. Recording Today.

I'm sort of sad that there isn't more stuff on youtube by Lungleg. Why was there never a video of "Previous Condition?" If I ever get a time machine the first place I'm going is a Lungleg show, for sure!




[Edit: It didn't occur to me to check until today, but there is some good stuff on their (official?) myspace, including a cool lo-fi version of Theme Park and a show from 1994 split into two long tracks. It never occurred to me that a band from the '90s would have a myspace, but as we all know I'm a technophobe and don't really know how these things work. My God Lungleg is good, though! It's like somebody combined Girls At Our Best with Blast Off Country Style. I highly recommend both CDs. They've been in heavy rotation at my house since I discovered them a few years ago.]

Anyway, I'll not bury the lead more than I already have. The Posters will be opening for Borrowed Beams of Light at the Tea Bazaar this Friday, May 28th, 2010. If you've not heard the Borrowed Beams, you probably do not live in or near Charlottesville, but you can head over to their website and listen to their excellent five song EP in its entirety. I hasten to add that the Beams feature the songwriting and singing talents of Adam Brock, who is also the drummer in The Invisible Hand. Other local rock stars are also in the band, but the focus is very much on Adam's voice and clever, catchy songs. They are one of the biggest things in Charlottesville right now, and deservedly so. Also, they don't play as much as many of the bands around here because, even though their material is as good as that of any band in town, most of the people are in other bands that play more often, like the Hand and Corsair. Anyway, this is a big show for us because the Beams are really popular and really good, so I'm hoping this will be the show where I finally start getting some groupie action.

Also on the bill is Brooklyn's Paper Fleet. On their myspace they cite Joe Jack Talcum as a major influence, and that's a pretty apt comparison. They sound a lot like "Dean's Dream" from Big Lizard In My Back Yard, which as far as I'm concerned is a very good thing.

We're playing first at this show, probably starting around 9:00 or 9:30, so plan to get there early and enjoy some tea.

In other news, Dave and I recorded some stuff today. We actually got a whole lot done, which usually scares me, because the more you get done the less good all of it usually sounds when you listen to it the next day. I'm really pleased with the way those Russian microphones I bought sound on acoustic guitar, though. I'm hoping they'll sound as good as drum overheads. Listening back to the acoustic we recorded for "Aubrey" last week I was struck by how natural it sounded. If they work as well as I think they will on drums I might be able to pawn one of my large diaphragm AKGs (which would rule).

I'm still not pleased with my bass playing on "Penmanship." Although I'm thinking that when we record the actual thing I want to record it through a guitar amp with lots of reverb.

Does anybody else think the end of Ashes to Ashes was a little too much like something from some galex-obsessed nerd-girl's fan fiction? (Not that that's necessarily a bad thing.) It's not that it was overly galexy, just that it was so on the nose in terms of giving the most psycho elements of the fan base exactly what they wanted. To think that some of those freaky people on The Railway Arms actually had it way more right than anyone else!

I guess this probably should have tipped me off.

Anyway, RIP the Quattro.

Monday, May 10, 2010

Sage Comme une Image

This is the direction we're headed in for the next album... Hope everyone approves! Thanks to everybody who came out to rock on Saturday and thanks in advance to everyone who's gonna come out to watch us tear it up at Tea Bazaar on May 28th with Paper Fleet and Borrowed Beams of Light! It's the day after my 33rd birthday! Come celebrate (or lament) with me!



- Dave

Sunday, May 9, 2010

Workday/Schoolnight and Young Adult Fiction

This is going to be a photo-heavy post, so I've made the thumbnails really small. You can click on them to see them big.


Last night's show was off that hook, dude! The first act was Workday/Schoolnight, one guy and about twelve machines working together to fuck shit up. It was all of the good stuff about experimental electronic music (danceable beats, Human League-esque synth hooks, smart lyrics and really funny samples from found materials) with none of the things that can sometimes make that music unlistenable or boring (i.e. not having actual songs).


The awesome lyrics and sound samples -- many from what sounded like early-'90s self hypnosis and life coaching cassettes -- really created a bleak picture of the irredeemable distopia that is modern America, but this message of alienation and hopelessness was delivered in the form of a first class dance party act. I can't imagine a more fun way to reflect on the failings of this hellscape we all inhabit.


The Posters played in the middle slot, and after us was Young Adult Fiction, from Richmond. Seeing them play, all the Pavement comparisons started to make sense to me. There's almost more of a visual resemblance than a musical one. It's not just that they're five dudes playing Pavement instruments (including a Bob Nastanovich guy), but they actually look a little like the guys in Pavement. But in a weird way. Check it out: The Malkmus guy looks like Malkmus, but the Spiral Stairs looks like a cross between Steve West and Mark Ibold! And then the Steve West looks like Bob Nastanovich!!! The other two guys -- the bass player and the auxil-ovich/percussionist don't look like anybody in Pavement.


Here's the back of Dave as he gets down to their phat tunes.


They switch instruments for a couple of songs, and the drummer comes out and sings some songs while the singer plays drums. Switching instruments is always awesome!


Then they switched back and I took this picture from a different angle. As you can see, the people just couldn't sit still.


For the last couple of songs, Dylan (aka Charlottesville's Rhythm Bandit) played the auxil-ovitch, and the bass player took off his shirt. I'm not sure if the two things were related because I was too busy dancing. Everybody was kung fu fighting!


During the last song Dylan broke the fourth wall in a kind of situationist rejection of established decorum. I think he also may have broken this drum. Dave is trying to contain the madness, but he can't!

That was probably the most fun I've ever had at the Tea Bazaar. Word!

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Tea Bazaar. This Saturday. Be there!

I sort of can't get enough of this kid. I'm really into his voice and the kooky moves his drummer has. Most of the time when people cover a Wipers song they try to be really tough about it, and can't really do justice to Greg Sage's voice or guitar tone, but this guy just doesn't even go down that route. He rocks it Lois Maffeo style with just acoustic guitar and minimal drums, and it totally works.

The Hilarious Posters will be doing some rocking of our own this Saturday at our beloved second-story Tea Bazaar. The headlining act will be Richmond's Young Adult Fiction, about whom everybody has been saying good things. People have described them as sounding very 1990s, but I don't really hear it. Probably, once again, folks have confused "1990s" with "good."

Also on the bill is Workday/Schoolnight from North Carolina. It's electronic slightly-experimental stuff, but still very song-based, and featuring poppy synth hooks -- accessible while not being dumbed down at all. I'm pretty sure it's just one guy and a bunch of machines.

On Sunday we made the first stabs at recording stuff for our long player. The idea is to have it out in the fall, but given that five songs took us five months to record last year, there's a chance that fifteen or twenty will take us into fall 2011! We recorded stuff that will probably not be used for the actual record, but will serve as guide tracks later on -- bass and acoustic guitar on Not the Strut, Penmanship, and Ferris Bueller.

Monday, April 19, 2010

Go Us!

Check it out, everybody! The Hook has implied that we are somewhere between the 13th and 69th best band in Charlottesville! Woo hoo!

Seriously, though, congratulations to Mss, Pompadour, and virtually every other band we have ever shared a stage with.

:,-(

In other HP news, we're making our triumphant return to Twisted Branch Tea Bazaar (just "the Tea Bazaar" for you cool kids) on May 8th. It's a Saturday. We're playing with a band from Chicago called Caw Caw who seem really fun and energetic, judging from their myspace.

[Edit: Caw Caw's participation is no longer a sure thing, as they may have to be in another town that night. The show will feature us and at least one other band: Richmond's Young Adult Fiction. More deets in a separate post soon.]

This show will feature at least one new song -- a rousing, anthemic, as-yet-untitled sing-along which will also involve some surprises. VHS & the Babies fans will know what I mean when I say that, with this song, we're introducing a new "module."

There's another new song we've been practicing, but I don't think it'll be ready for the show in May. It's either going to be called "Showmen" or "Lots in the Supermarket." It's sort of a sequel to "Geniuses," in that where "Geniuses" was kind of about Orson Welles, this one is kind of about Val Lewton. Most of the song is faux hard rock, in tribute to the Blast/Trapnest feud (which the song is also kind of about), but it has a sweet disco breakdown in the middle, which was inspired by the chorus to this song (the part at 1:29).

I have to go teach Sylvia Plath. Laters.
Sam

Saturday, April 10, 2010

Cool Evening at the Garage

Awesome show at the Garage last night with Travis Kokas, Mss, and Sam Buck Rosen.


Travis was up first, playing some very pretty and bittersweet songs. Dave backed him up with excellent harmonies, Garfunkel-style.


Next up was Mss, who were always great, but are really evolving in an exciting new direction. Josh was playing a lot more lap steel, giving their usual slow-simmer noisiness an unusual hawaiian flavor. Hula girls would not have been out of place. (Nor would they have been unwelcome, and I can't stress that enough!)

The HP kicked out the jams after Mss, ripping through song after song about vaginas, to the delight of Dave and Renee's realtor, whose name I've forgotten (but that guy is a major new force in the world of rock n roll cheerleading). He also said my songs sounded like The Cure, which is by far the most flattering comparison I've received while I've been in this band.

I'm guessing that pictures of our set will turn up soon on facebook or something.


Last was headliner Sam Buck Rosen, a late addition to the bill, whose incredible songs instantly made him a welcome one. He had the weird smarminess of a vegas-era Elvis, mixed with the wide-eyed innocence of Jonathan Richman, and some kind of Buster Poindexter thing thrown in there too. He also looked like a slightly less good looking David Boreanaz.

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

More Buzz

Nice words about us in the C'ville today. Unfortunately I don't think the section that mentions us is included in their online edition, but those who want to check it out are free to come look on my refrigerator, where it will be displayed indefinitely.

In other news, we're playing at The Garage this Friday. The Garage is a little art gallery next to the funeral home downtown, and in the summer they have rock shows on the sidewalk in front (the gallery itself is too small to have the shows inside). The Posters went to see The Caninos, Andrew Cedermark, and Jacob Wolf there last year, and it was awesome, although more low-key and contemplative than your standard rock show.

We'll be playing with Mss (I believe it's the first time we've re-paired with any band, which shows how much we love Mss and also how much Locust Grove pride we have), and they're always good. Dave's Cusack's bandmate Travis is playing too, and also a guy from New York who like me is named Sam. The entire shindig will be wrapped up in time for people to catch the whole thing and then head over to the Tea Bazaar to support WTJU, which is hosting a rock marathon related dance event late into the night.

The the next night (Saturday the 10th), also at The Garage, a tripple bill of Posters' friends and allies will be performing. Pompadour (Charlottesville's best band, IMO), Left & Right (awesome jangly Caninos spinoff), and Andrew Cedermark (local rock-n-roll reporter and celebrity) will make you glad you came out two nights in a row.

Both Garage shows are free. (I think they pass the hat or something, but you have my permission to be a scrooge.)

Monday, March 29, 2010

Dec Interview & Other Noize....

Hey everybody! Dave here...haven't posted in a while and before this blog descends into some sort of outlet for Sam's pathos I thought I would chime in and let everybody know about the recently printed interview with the Posters written by Gary Canino for the [edit: I think Dave means "a" - st] UVA newspaper, The Declaration.

Anyway, there is a brief mention of the band Bikeride in the interview. They are probably my favorite unsung band of the last decade and one that will most likely never get the credit they deserve since lead singer/guitarist/songwriter Tony Carbone died a few years ago. Every time I write a song for the Posters I'm thinking of Bikeride so I thought I would post the following video for everyone to check out. Their last two albums, Morning Macumba and The Kiss, are both worth seeking out.



See everybody April 9th at the Garage! It's going to be a good one....I promise!

- Dave

Saturday, March 27, 2010

March Mildness

Can March really have been so slow a month for the Posters? I guess we've been practicing only once a week lately, so less has been going on. We broke ground for two new songs on Thrusday, though neither, it's likely, will be ready for our outdoor debut on the 9th (at the Garage).

I recently saw Godard's Soigne ta Droite, which I'd not seen before, and I was pretty impressed with the Rita Mitsouko stuff I heard in that, so I've been checking them out. Also, Judy and Mary.

Something I forgot to say last time I posted was that, before our set at that Random Row show, the girl from Stereo Telescope asked me what we sounded like. I said something about Apples in Stereo because that's the least embarrassing comparison that's been made by somebody outside of the band. After we played she said that my description was accurate, although she would have added that we have touches of "really happy '90s pop" along the lines of "Weezer or The Gin Blossoms."

Besides the fact that the Apples retain their title as least embarrassing comparison, the only result of this comment is that I was sad to see yet another opportunity for somebody to name-check Hypnolovewheel wasted. I realize this makes me old, but Hypnolovewheel is great -- probably the only one of those full-on alt rock bands I'm not now embarrassed to have listened to. There isn't even much to recommend them on youtube, given that the videos they made are for songs that, while good, are not exactly in their top five gems.




If you feel like spending a few dollars on mp3 downloads, check out Kiss Big and/or Turn You Off. They're good.

If some day somebody, unprompted, says my songs sound like a cross between Nothing Painted Blue and The Voidoids, I'll die happy.

April will probably bring more news, because we're supposed to start recording again.

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Quiet Loudly and ex-Most Ghosts


I've got a lot going on this week, what with settling in to my new place and grading papers and whatnot, but I was excited to post these pictures of the bands we played with the other day (even though they kind of didn't come out). So this is going to be a kinda short overview, but definitely check these bands out if you can.


The first bit of news was that Most Ghosts no longer have their drummer or bass player, so rather than do some kind of Most Ghosts unplugged thing the two guitar players did two mini sets. Here's Daniel Harris, who did some effects-heavy guitar and vocals stuff. Lots of loops and layers and textural things, starting out quiet and pretty and then becoming loud and chaotic.


The other Most Ghost actually had a partner, forming an awesome electronic duo called Stereo Telescope. They had awesome danceable groves with minimalist guitar work -- kind of like a slightly updated New Order but with boy/girl vocals. Since boy/girl vocals is my favorite thing in the world I was extra excited.


Then we played, and finally the headliners -- Quiet Loudly. Really funny banter, great songs with lots of surprises. Lots of dynamic and tempo changes but with at the same time some pleasantly simple riffs. My only complaint was that there should be more singing and fewer long instrumental stretches (but you know me, I pretty much feel like all songs should have singing all the time).

Monday, March 8, 2010

Random Row 03/13/10

We're going to rock Random Row Books again this Saturday, so turn off, tune out, and drop in.

We'll be playing with Boston's Most Ghosts and Brooklyn's Quiet Loudly. Judging from the stuff on Most Ghosts' myspace they have some pretty intense two-guitar interplay that I'm really looking forward to seeing live so I can geek out over it.


Barring any major disasters at practice this week we're going to debut two new jams at this show, so if your reason for not coming was going to be that you've already heard all our songs, think again, spaz!

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Post-partum Update

Ah, in the wake of our EP-release euphoria it's back to the grindstone for the Posters!

We've been working on two new pop-rocks this past week. One is "I Want a Bee or Dog." It's the first chapter of the "Noah's Ark" trilogy, which concludes with the currently-hibernating 50-second new wave jam "Come On Down." The middle part of the trilogy, "Das Ark," is still being written.

Anyway, IWABOD is a song that rips off The Smiths, and then was in turn ripped off by me myself for the Posters' shortest song to date: Ferris Bueller. My limited vocal range is proving a problem in the singing of this one, because in the low octave the low notes are too low, and in the high octave the high notes are too high. I'm seriously considering changing the key (or becoming a eunuch, whichever proves less of a hassle).

You can get a taste from this instrumental demo recorded by my project with Ariel, The Trojan Whores.

I Want a Bee or Dog (demo)

We have also been working on a rock-opera-tastic piece which does not yet have a name, though its vibe is not unlike the one in this video of renowned early-Who tribute band, The middle-period-Who.


In other news, I'm getting thrown out of my apartment next week, so if you've ever had fantasies of living with a local rock star and two cats now is the time to act.

Sam